Coke oven door machine



July 10, 1934.

C. V. MclNTIRE COKE OVEN DOOR MACHINE Filed May l5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l BY y M ATTORNEY Juy 10, 1934. c, v MclNTlRE 1,966,075

COKE OVEN DOOR MACHINE Filed May 15, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheety A2 '7 BY M k 1N@ 34/ ATTORNEY July 10, 1934. c. v. MCINTIRE COKE OVEN DOOR MACHINE Filed May l5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY 1M ATTORNEY C. V. MCINTIRE COKE OVEN DOOR MACHINE July 10, 1934.

Filed May l5, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 BY y ATTORNEY Patented duly lil, i934@ ripplicationll/lay 15, 1931, Serial No. 537,641

lll Claims.

.- to be removed and are then operated to engage the door of the oven and move the same outwardly way froz i the oven, breaking the seal of luting clay around the The trucl; carrying the door then moved along the battery of ovens out of the way while the coke is being removed from the oven. The hardened clay is scraped from the sides or the door while withdrawn and after the eolie has been removed from the oven, the door is replaced and sealed in position with fresh clay.

It has been ound that less power is required to remove the door from the oven, and the door frame and door are subjected to less strain when top or bottom. or the door is moved first so that the luting clay is stripped from one end of the door to the other, than when the door is removed bodily in such a manner that the seal on all four sides of the door is broken at one time. However, the door frame into which the door or" the coke oven lits does not ordinarily provide space about the door for swinging the door upwardly or sideways of the oven and, therefore, it is desirable to move the door substantially horizontally away from the oven after the seal oi clay has been broken. After the door has been removed from the oven, the hardened clay niust be scraped from the sides oi the door and; therefore, it is desirable to provide' mechanism which does not obstruct the sides of the door when removed or prevent ready access to the door from the top to the bottom thereof.

Furthermore, since the coke oven doors are very heavy, it is desirable to provide a construction which has a low center oi gravity and the moving parts or center oi activity should also be low, that is adjacent the platform of the truck on which the moving parts are mounted in order to stabilize the assembly.

In accordance with my invention, simple mechanisrn is provided for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens by means oi which the top of the door is withdrawn from the oven more rapidly than the lower portion or the door during ythe initial movement of the door away irorn the oven. In replac ig the door, the movements are reversed so that the lower portionof the door initially moves toward the oven more rapidly tb n the top ci the door and thereafter the top oi the door is moved into position. The member, by of which the door is moved,V is constructed to be moved transversely of the truck on which the machine is carried and simultaneously is tilted toward or away from the oven in such manner that the path of movement of the door vvhen the oven is substantially horizontal, thus facilitating removal and replacement of door without requiring any change in the usual construction of the door `frame to provide clearance for movement oi the door. Furthermore, the movement of the door in being eX- traoted from the oven is such that the luting clay is stripped :from the top toward the bottom of *ie door, thus avoiding excessive strain upon the door and door frame and enabling the machine to be relatively light in construction and operated with a minimum of power. In the preferred .ic-rin of invention. the principal moving elements of the machine are located on or adjacent to the platform of the truck, thus providing a construction which is exceptionally stable.

Among the objects of my invention are to provide a coke oven door machine which is simple in its construction and operation and by means of which coke oven doors may be moved in such a manner that the luting clay is stripped during the initial movement of the door and the door thereafter moved away from the oven substantially horizontally.

Further objects of my invention are to provide a construction by means of which the sides of the door, when removed from the coke oven, are accessible for cleaning and to provide a very stable construction having a low center of gravity and a low center of activity.

These and other objects and features of my invention will appear from the following description of a preferred type of mechanism embodying my invention in which reference is made to the accompanying gures of the drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side Viewk of a preferred form of mechanism embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the mechanism shown in Fig. l as seen from the right side of Fig. l.

Fig, 3 is a sectional view illustrating a detail of Vthe machine taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l. and

Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive illustrate various positions oi the machine and door in removing the door from the oven.

En the construction shown in the gures of the drawings, a coke oven 2 is provided with a door l III adapted to iit into a door frame 6 of conventional construction. The door is formed with a keeper 8 adapted to be engaged by a suitable hook on the door machine for removing the door and for supporting the same when withdrawn from the oven. Latch bars 10 extend across the door below the keeper 8 and engage the buckstays l1 in the usual manner for holding the door in place in the door frame.

The mechanism for removing and replacing the door is carried by a truck l2, mounted on flanged wheels 14 movable along tracks 16 on the coke bench 18. The mechanism shown in the drawings comprises a door moving member 22 for removing and supporting a coke oven door and a door engaging member 24 for positioning the door during movement thereof with respect to the oven, together with suitable motors and gear reduction mechanism for actuating said members.

The door moving member 22 is formed with a body portion 26 having side elements 28, the lower ends of which are spaced apart a sufficient distance to provide adequate stability for the member. The lower' ends of the side elements 28 are each supported upon stationary supports 30 on the platform of the truck. Toothed arcuate segments 32 are secured to the lower ends of the side elements 28 and engage stationary racks 34 positioned adjacent the supports 30. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the supports 30 provide a bearing surface in line with the teeth of the stationary rack for receiving the weight of the door moving member and the door. The cooperating teeth on the segments 32 and the racks 34 serve to move the door moving member bodily with reference to the supports 30 but do not support the weight of the door moving member and door. In order to prevent displacement of the door moving member with reference to the supports and stationary racks during sudden movements of said member, I provide a guard 36 with an overhanging projection above the arcuate seg ments 32 so that the teeth of the segments 32 can not be thrown out of engagement with the teeth of the racks 34. As pointed out more fully hereafter, the supports 30 and racks 34 are inclined away from the ovens and cooperate with the lower ends of the side elements and the toothed segments of the door moving member to permit the door moving member to be tilted and simultaneously moved bodily with reference to the supports toward and away from the ovens.

The upper ends of the side elements 28 carry a pintle 40 on which is pivotally mounted a lever 42, the forward end of which has a hook 44 thereon adapted to engage the keeper 8 on the door. The end of the lever 42 on the other side of the pintle 4G is connected by the link 46 to a crank 48 actuated by the motor 49 to raise and lower the hook 44 into and out of engagement with the keeper 8 on the door.

The door engaging member 24, which holds the lower portion of the door in the desired position when withdrawn from the oven and during move- 'f' ment of the door, comprises an arm 50 pivotally secured at 52 to the truck l2 below the platform thereof. The arm 50 is inclined upwardly toward the door and is provided with a pivoted element 54 having a roller 56 thereon for engaging the door. The element 54 is urged toward the door by a heavy spring 58 to take up shock between the member 50 and the door.

The door moving member and the door engaging member are provided with journals 59 in which is slidably mounted a latch operating bar 6C- provided with lugs 62 positioned to engage the latch bars l() to raise the same and release the coke oven door prior to the removal thereof from the oven. The latch operating bar is connected to the lever 42 by the link 64 and is raised. and lowered by movement of said lever as hereinafter described.

The actuating mechanism for moving the door moving member and door engaging member into position to engage the coke oven doors and for removing and replacing doors, comprises a motor 66 and gear reduction mechanism 68 by means of which a bell crank TO is oscillated. The bell crank is provided with arms 72 and 74 connected to the door moving member and the door engaging member respectively. The arm 72 of the bell crank is connected by the link 76 to luge '78, carried by the body portion 26 of the door moving member and positioned above the center of the arcuate segments 32. The arm 74 of the bell crank is connected by the link 80 to the pivoted arm 50 of the door engaging member.

In operating the mechanism described above to remove a door from a coke oven, the truck carrying the moving elements is along the tracks on the coke bench into position in front of the oven, the door of which is to be removed. During movement of the truck along the coke bench the elements of the machine are carried in the position shown in Fig. 4 with the door moving member and the door engaging member in their retracted or neutral positions, spaced from the doors of the ovens. When the truck has been moved into position the motor 66 is energized to rotate the bell crank in a counter clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5. The upper end of the door moving member is thus tilted toward the coke oven door and the hook 44 is brought into position beneath the keeper 8 on the door. The roller 56 carried by the door engaging member is brought into engagement with the lower portion of the door and the lugs 62 of the latch operating bar 60 are brought into position beneath the latch bars l0. The motor 49 is then energized to rotate the crank 48 in a counter clock-wise direction to pull downwardly on the link 46 and raise the hook 44 into engagement with the keeper 8. The latch operating bar 60 is thereby raised bringing the lugs 62 into engagement with the latch bars l() to raise the same and release the door. The movement of the lever 42 and hook 44 is suicient to take up any lost motion in the linkage elements and to release the latch bars 10, but is not sumcient to actually lift the door from the door sill.

After the latch bars l0 have released the door and the hook 44 has been brought into position, the motor 66 is operated to rotate the bell crank 70 in a clock-wise direction from the position` as seen in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. '7. The door moving member 22 is thus tilted rearwardly away from the oven and the door engaging member is simultaneously moved away from the oven. The bell crank. when in the position shown in Fig. 5, is positioned with the arm 72 substantially at right angles to the link 76 by which the door moving member is tilted rearwardly away from the oven. Therefore, rotation of the bell crank in a clock-wise direction causes the door moving member to be moved rearwardly comparatively rapidly. The arm 74 of the bell crank, when in the position shown in Fig. 5, forms an obtuse angle or is nearly parallel with the link 80 connected to the door engaging member and, therefore, clock-wise movement of! the bell crank arm 74 from the positionshown in Fig. 5v through the position shown in Fig; 6 causes-the door engaging member to be moved rearwardly away from the oven comparatively,

movement. of' the door engaging member cause the door tobetilted rearwardly as shown in Fig.

(isoy that the luting. clay about the door is strippedfromthe Vtop ofthe door toward the bottom thereof'. The power required for. removing the door fromthe door-trame is therefore relatively small andthe-door frameand door moving. member are not subjected toexcessive strain.

As the'movement of the door away from the ovenis continued, the position of. the bell'cranlr arm- 72. with reference to link 76 forms an acute angle whereas the angle between the bellcrank arm '74 and the link 80 connected to the door engaging: member becomes more nearly a right angle so that the door engaging member is moved away from the oven rapidly during the movement ofv the bell crank from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. '7. The door is therefore brought into a vertical position parallel withthe door frame when in the fully retracted position shown in Fig. '7-

During movement of the door moving member romthe-position shown in Fig. 5 in which the member is tilted toward the coke oven door to the position shown in Fig. 7 in which the door is fully retracted, the door moving member is moved away from the coke oven and downwardly along the inclined supports 30 and racks 34 by reason of; the engagement of the teeth of the segments 32 with the teeth of the stationary racks. The upper portion of the door moving member, therefore, moves in a path in the form of a flattened arc. Furthermore, the lowering of the door moving member as it movesaway from. the oven along the inclined supports 30, compensates to some extenty for the upward swing of the door moving member inbeing tilted. rearwardly; The tilting of the door in retracting the same also tends to. lower the upper edge, of the door so that the edge thereof moves in the path indicated by the line X in Fig. '7. It will be noted that this path of movement adjacent the coke oven, is substantially horizontal allowing the door to be removed and replaced from a door frame of conventional construction without danger of jamming or striking the frame. The

lower edge of the door in being removed follows the path indicated by the line Y on Fig. '7, being slightly raised and moved rearwardly away from the oven.

In replacing the door the movements of the elements are reversed so that the door moves progressively from the position shown in Fig. 'l through the position shown in Fig. 6 to that of Fig. 5. The lower portion of the door thus moves toward the oven more rapidly than the upper portion of the door during the initial replacing movement and the lower edge of the door is set in place on the door sill before the upper portion of the door is pushed against the frame. After the door has been replaced, the hook 44 is lowered by rotation of a crank 48 in a clock-wise direction and the latch operating bar S0 and lugs 62 are lowered so that the latch bars 10 can be replaced to hold the door in position in the door frame.

As shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, the door when in the retractive position isunobstructedby the elements of the machine so that' the sidesot the door'are readily accessible fory cleaning` priortofroplacing the door in the door frame. By reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings it will also bev notedthat the motors for operating themove ing lementsand the gear reduction mechanismy are located on the platform of the truck and the door moving member and door engaging member are supported adjacent the platform of the truck: so. that. the moving elements are all relatively low and the center of gravity and center of ac-- tlvi'tyr of the machine are adjacent the platformA ofthe truck. The assembly is therefore eXcep-fA tionally stable as compared with machines-here toiore used ior removing the doors of coke ovens..

While I have illustrated and described a pre-A ferred form of machine embodying my invention, it will be understood that the form thereofV is illustrative only and is capable of numerous changes in the form and arrangement of parts without departing trom my invention.

I claim:

l. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery oi coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a stationary support'mounted onV said truck, a door moving member engaging the sup-` port and vmovable relatively to said support and tiltable with reference to the doors of said colte ovens, means carried by said member for engaging said doors and moving said doors toward and awayr from said ovens, .and means for moving saidmember bodily along said support and for tilting said member toward and away from said doors.

`2. A machine for removing and replacing'the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along abattery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, an inclined stationary support mounted on said truck, adoor moving niembermovable relatively to said support and tiltable with reference to theY doors of said` colse ovens, means carried by said member for engaging said doors and moving said doors toward and away from said ovens, and means for moving said 'member bodily along 'saidsupport and for simultaneously tilting said member toward and away from said doors. 1

3. A machine for removing and replacingthe doors or" coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a stationary support mounted on said truck, a door moving member having an arcuate segment thereon, said member being adapted to rock about said segment whereby said member is simultaneously tilted and moved longitudinally of said support, means carried by said member for engaging the doors oi the coke ovens and means for moving said member toward and away from said doors.

4. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery o coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member tiltable with reference to the doors of the coke ovens and having a door engaging hook carried thereby, said door moving member having a toothed segment se cured thereto and a stationary rack mounted on said truck and engaging said segment and means j' along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof a door moving member having a door engaging hook carried thereby, said door moving member having a toothed segment secured thereto and engaging a stationary rack and means connected to said door moving member above the center of said segment movable to rock said door moving member toward and away from said ovens about said segment and along said stationary rack.

6. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member having a door engaging hook carried thereby, an inclined support for said door moving member mounted on said truck, means for moving said door moving member bodily towards and away from said ovens along said inclined support, said door moving member having a toothed segment thereon adjacent the lower end of said member, a stationary rack mounted on said truck engaging the teeth of said segment and inclined away from said ovens, and means for rocking said member about said segment and along said inclined rack so that the upper portion of said member is moved in a path in the form of a flattened arc.

7. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member having a toothed segment thereon adjacent the lower end of said member, a stationary rack mounted on said truck engaging the teeth of said segment and inclined away from said ovens, and means for rocking said member about said segment and along said inclined rack so that the upper portion of said member is moved in a path in the form of a flattened arc.

8. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member mounted on said truck, a door engaging member also mounted on said truck, links connected to said door moving member and door engaging member and means for moving said links to withdraw said door moving member from said oven more rapidly than said door engaging member during the initial movement of said members away from said oven.

9. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member having a toothed arcuate segment secured to the lower end thereof, a support for said door moving member, a toothed rack adjacent said support and engaging said arcuate segment, a hook carried by the upper end of said door moving member for engaging the doors of said ovens, means for moving said hook relatively to said door moving member and means for rocking said door moving member about said segment to tilt said member toward and away from said oven and to move said member longitudinally of said support.

10. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member having a toothed arcuate segment secured to the lower end thereof, a support for said door moving member, a toothed rack adjacent said support and engaging the teeth of said arcuate segment, a hook secured to the upper end of said door moving member for engaging the doors of said ovens, a door` engaging member mounted on said truck below the hook carried by said door moving member and means for moving said door moving member and said door engaging member simultaneously toward and away from said ovens, said door moving member being movable away from said ovens more rapidly than said door engaging member during the'initial moving of said members away from said ovens.

11. A machine for removing and replacing the doors of coke ovens comprising a truck movable along a battery of coke ovens adjacent the doors thereof, a door moving member having a door engaging hook carried thereby, said door moving member being supported on said truck and bodily movable toward and away from the coke oven doors, a door engaging member mounted on said truck, and means for moving said door moving member and said door engaging member simultaneously at different rates toward and away from said ovens.

CHARLES V. MCINTIRE. 

